Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Bound	By : goldhorse Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 126119 -:- Recommendations : 15 -:- Currently Reading : 31
Disclaimer: JK owns HP. Not me. I also don't own any quotes you might recognize. I make no money doing this, I just get the plot bunnies to quit interrupting my sleep.

Chapter List
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The next morning, Hermione woke up with a pounding headache. She realized that it was early and breakfast didn’t start until 9:00 but she had to distribute her work to her teachers. She dragged herself out of bed and hastily got dressed. It felt like someone had hit her with a bludger; her head hurt so badly. She stumbled down the tower, eyes blurring.

Ginny was sitting on the couch reading a magazine and looked up at her. She must have sensed something wrong because she ran over to Hermione and threw her arms around her waist to steady her. “Hermione, are you okay? You don’t look so good. Why don’t I take you to go see Madam Pomfrey, okay?”

Hermione gave her a weak smile. “That’d be great Gin,” she slurred. She grabbed on to Ginny’s shoulder and made the long, painful trek to the hospital wing.

Draco woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. The room was spinning and he felt slightly nauseous. He managed to pull some clothes on and stumble his way to the common room. He could barely see straight and much to his horror, he felt tears leaking from his eyes from the pain. He hadn’t been in this much pain in quite a while and that was really saying something as the cruciatis hadn’t exactly been an off limit curse in his short lifetime.

Blaise Zabini was sitting on the couch engrossed in a dirty magazine. He looked up and noticed that his friend was paler than usual and slightly wobbly. He’d heard of his misfortune in the bathroom and decided he should help the poor bloke out. He figured his father had taught him another lesson.

“Hey Draco, you feeling all right there mate?”

“Not really Blaise. I think I need to go to the hospital wing and get a potion for this damned headache.” His speech was slurred and stilted.

“No problem mate. I’ll walk you there. You look like you could use a bit of help.”

Draco and Blaise make the slow and painful walk up to the infirmary.

The closer they both walked to the infirmary, the better their headache seemed to get. It was very odd to them both. By the time they reached the door, they could both walk upright and their speech was no longer slurred. The world quit spinning and the pain subsided. There was still a dull ache but the bone crushing pain had been relieved. Their eyes locked as they reached the doors. They frantically looked back to their friends to see if they had noticed.

“Oi, what are you doing here ferret? You won’t mess with her again, I swear it!” Ginny yelled.

“Shut up Red, he’s just come to get checked out. If he knew that a filthy mudblood and a blood traitor would be here, he wouldn’t have come,” Blaise retorted.

Blaise and Ginny stood toe-to-toe and yelled at each other. They were so absorbed in trying to verbally tear the other one apart, they didn’t notice their two friends creep into the door without them. Draco and Hermione closed the door, looked around, and said silencing and locking charms to make sure they weren’t followed. They needed to talk, and no one should be privy to it. They could still hear Blaise and Ginny arguing out in the hall, as the silencing charms only went one way.

They walked over to Madam Pomfrey’s office and knocked.

“Ah Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger; what brings you both back so soon? Feeling well?”

The two spoke in unison, “Could I have a headache potion?”

Pomfrey was momentarily stunned but the Headmaster had warned her that they might be acting odd for a while. She nodded, motioned for them to have a seat on a couple of the beds, and turned to get their potions.

Draco turned to Hermione and spoke. “You have a headache too?”

“Yes, but it was strange. The closer I got to the infirmary, the better my headache got. It still hurts, but not near as bad.”

Malfoy had a feeling something deeper was going on than they had originally anticipated. He had to find out though, and there was no time like the present.

“Granger, as much as it pains me to do this, I just had a thought. Touch your forehead to mine.”

“WHAT?” Hermione shrieked.

“Trust me, I am extremely disgusted at the thought, but I have to know if there is some other connection that we aren’t aware of. I didn’t have a headache until you walked away last night and it started getting better the closer I was to you this morning. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

Hermione nodded and warily moved closer to Malfoy. She slowly stood on her tiptoes and grabbed his shoulder for stability. He was right. The closer she moved to him, the better her head felt. Ever fiber in her being told her this was wrong. She wasn't supposed to touch the enemy. Even worse, this particular enemy was out to destroy the one person who could help Harry in his quest.

Draco took the initiative to place his forehead to Granger's. His mind screamed that this was wrong but he simply had to find out. If this worked like he had a feeling it would, he'd need to do a hell of a lot more research on top of trying to fix that damn cabinet in the room of requirement. He placed his hands on Granger's shoulders because she was still a bit wobbly.

They both closed their eyes. As soon as their foreheads met, the pain subsided. It was like a wash of soothing calm came over them. Soon, a spell for pain relief popped into their minds and they automatically chanted it together. They were enveloped in a familiar gold light and the residual pain disappeared.

Now Draco knew there was a connection. They could instinctively read each other's thoughts, even if it wasn't clear. They had both chanted the pain-relieving spell together and completed the spell on each other. He had noticed they were in sync yesterday, but he thought it was maybe a temporary side effect of being trapped in their minds together. Now he knew it wasn't temporary. Someone cleared their throat and brought him out of his thoughts.

Madam Pomfrey stood beside them with a slight smile and a twinkle in her eyes. She had their headache potions held out to each of them. Caught off guard, Hermione and Draco pushed each other away. Draco stumbled backwards but Hermione landed on her bum. Her face was the color of a tomato as she was sprawled out on the floor in shock. Draco automatically extended his hand and she took it without reservation. When they realized what happened, both their eyes went wide and they quickly backed away from each other.

"Well do you want your potions or don't you?" Madam Pomfrey asked with an amused lilt to her voice.

"Yes please," they answered in unison.

Both were beyond shocked. They each grabbed a bottle and ran toward the infirmary doors before Pomfrey could insist she look over them both. They pointed their wands at the door and removed the locking and silencing spells they had placed earlier as they dashed out, careful not to touch each other.

Blaise and Ginny were still out in the corridor yelling insults at each other. They both had their wands drawn and were pacing in a circle. Malfoy had a smirk on his face and raised one pale eyebrow as he shot a sideways glance at Granger. She also had a sly smile on her face as she watched her fiery friend square off with the tall, dark Slytherin.

"As much as I would love to see you hex the Weaslette into oblivion, Blaise, I need to go back to my room and finish getting ready. Coming?"

Blaise sneered at Ginny one last time. “Sure thing mate. This blood traitor isn’t worth it.”

Ginny lunged toward him but Hermione held her back, taking the opportunity to shoot Malfoy one last seething look. She turned her passionate friend around and marched her back to the Gryffindor dormitories to finish getting ready for the day.

Each step the two took from each other was like adding another needle to their bodies. It was as if they were treading on fire. Their heads started pounding, their eyes blurring, their world spinning, and nausea had set in. By the time they were back into their rooms, they were thankful for the headache potion they had just gotten from Pomfrey. Unknowingly, they both uncorked their bottles and gulped their potions down at the same time. Both let out a sigh of relief as the pain faded, but it never completely went away.

Once more able to function, Hermione put her robe on, grabbed her bag, and headed back down to the common room. Her head was still tender and she felt a bit fuzzy, but she supposed it was better than being incapacitated. She met Harry, Ginny, Neville, Ron, and (much to her chagrin) Lavender at the bottom of the stairs. She decided to keep a stiff upper lip and ignore the pain in her heart and her head. She valiantly strode toward the Great Hall, careful to avoid looking at Ron and Lavender giggling and hanging off each other. Harry shot her a look of sympathy as they walked.

After consuming his potion, Draco set out to start his day. He groggily put on his robes and stumbled down to the common room and met Blaise, Nott, Crabe, Goyle, and Pansy (much to his disgust). She seemed to have kicked her clinginess up a notch, as if he needed to be reminded he was stuck with her. He planned to ditch the group after breakfast, run and distribute all his homework, and then hole up in the Room of Requirement to work on the vanishing cabinet.

He wished he could kill peeves for busting it. The Dark Lord knew exactly how impossible the task of putting it back together was for him. The cabinet was practically smashed to bits after that poltergeist had dropped it. The magic surrounding it seeped out of the splintered seams. He’d researched day and night in the restricted section searching for spells to put it right. It consumed him most the time. He’d even given up quiddich to work on it.

Draco hadn’t had a good night of sleep in months. The most rest he had gotten was when he was trapped in his mind with Granger. He wasn’t so sure he could call that rest. She drilled him for what seemed like hours on end, asking him everything he knew on retreating into the mind. He’d tried to ignore her but she was relentless. He’d tried to hurt her after he found out he could, but found that he had hurt himself as well. Finally, he gave in and told her everything he knew.

Being trapped in the mind could be extremely dangerous business. He wasn’t lying to her. If they hadn’t gotten out, they would have died. He remembered the night he found that out. His father was teaching him how to survive the cruciatis curse without going insane. He knew all about the Longbottoms, but he dare not reveal what he knew about that night.

His father had let him (or made him, but it didn’t really matter, did it?) watch a pensive from his Aunt Bellatrix. He watched the terrible torture they both had to endure and resisted the urge to throw up. He knew if he dared to vomit in his father’s presence, his punishment would be severe. Malfoy’s were not weak. They weren’t sensitive and they could certainly stand by and watch a horrible and sickening display of animalistic sadism without flinching. He’d never get the sight of them writhing on the floor or the sounds of their shrieks out of his mind. It burned itself there, a testament to everything the Dark Lord stood for and everything he’d be facing if he were to turn against him.

After the pensive, his father had taught him to meditate. With the help of his Aunt, he’d learned both occlumency and legilimency. Snape stepped in and helped him exercise the ability to compartmentalize his mind. Only if one had one’s mind completely under control, could they retreat there safely. The reason being that a disorganized mind was hard to navigate. One must have control enough to separate the senses from the mind. It surprised his tutors how fast he had picked it up. They did decide to hide that little fact from the Dark Lord, lest he be used as a guinea pig. Even loyal servants knew that it was wise to keep a few things from their Master.

His father marched him to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor that fateful night. He told Draco to prepare his mind on the way. The hallways and staircases were a blur as he meditated and started disconnecting himself from his senses. The first thing he noticed was the stench of blood. He immediately disconnected his sense of smell. It was easy enough and his father tested him at the beginning of the dungeons with a rotting corpse of a muggle his Aunt Bellatrix had tortured quite some time ago. The smell would have been overpowering if he had been able to smell it.

The sounds were bone chilling. The dungeons were full of muggles in different states of torture and decay. Their mournful cries for mercy and heart wrenching sobs of pain would weaken all but the cruelest in their resolve. That was when he disconnected his hearing. His father asked him a question but he blinked blankly at him. Understanding that he’d taken the next step, Lucius nodded to a cell and pointed. Draco immediately walked in and bowed his head. He was resigned to his fate.

His father shackled him to the wall so he couldn’t move. Lucius didn’t want him dodging the curses. After he was secure, his father smacked him hard across the face. The coppery metallic taste of his blood filled his mouth, causing him to gag slightly. He closed his eyes and disconnected his taste. He could still feel the blood, but he could no longer taste it. He spit on the floor and Lucius pointed to his mouth, as if to ask if he could taste it. Draco gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, but his father caught it and continued.

Unable to smell, hear, or taste, he was forced to read lips. His father spoke clearly and moved close to him so he could understand what was to happen. Lucius ordered him to shut off his vision, but Draco panicked. He couldn’t protect himself if he couldn’t see what was coming, but that was the idea. His father raised his cane as if to strike and Draco closed his eyes, awaiting the pain of the strike. It never came. Thinking that he’d rather not chance it, he concentrated and disconnected his sight. As he slowly opened his eyes, he noticed that all was black. His blank eyes and his failure to try to block the blow to his stomach told Lucius that his son had succeeded.

Now all Draco knew to do was to block the pain. However, to do this, he would be disconnecting fully from his body and retreating into his mind and he was terrified. His father had taught him the way to come back, but he wasn’t sure that he could. All of the sudden, the worst pain he’d ever felt was coursing through his body. He felt his bones crack, his blood gush from his nose and mouth, and the terrible feeling that his guts were being twisted around his body. He knew he was screaming although he couldn’t hear it. Concentrating as hard as he could, the pain started to numb and finally he was alone. His body hung limply on the wall. He wasn’t aware of anyone or thing that was happening.

Smelling salts didn’t rouse him and several spells meant to wake him didn’t. After what seemed like forever, he decided to try and come back. He concentrated on his sense of smell first. That was the easiest to do. He found that he could smell the faint scent of smelling salts and perfume. He figured his mother was in the dungeon trying to get him to come to.

Next he concentrated on his hearing. He could hear his mother’s faint voice begging him to wake up. He’d been out 3 weeks. He couldn’t believe it. It had seemed like a long time but he hadn’t figured it had been that long. Time apparently passed differently in the mind. He’d make a mental note to study that later. Then he chuckled realizing the irony of making a mental note when one was already in the mind. He decided to concentrate on taste. Soon, a coppery metallic taste filled his senses. Apparently, they hadn’t washed out his mouth.

However, try as he might, he couldn’t will himself to move. He knew he needed to restore his body before he could open his eyes to see but he couldn’t seem to find it. Exhausted, his other senses faded. He’d tried over and over again to reconnect but he couldn’t seem to find himself. Finally, he gave up. At least no one could use him to do their bidding when he was practically a vegetable. He began wondering if his body would wither away slowly or if the disconnect had a time limit and his life would end abruptly. He supposed he would find out one-way or another.

Suddenly, there was another voice in his head. It was his godfather, Severus Snape.

“Draco, Draco can you hear me?”

“Godfather?”

“Yes Draco. You’ve been in your mind 4 weeks. If you stay here any longer, you will die for the body can’t live like this for more than a month.”

His godfather directed him on how to reconnect and helped him sense the outside world. Finally, he felt a tremendous pain. With a scream, he bolted upright. He was in his room. The darkness was comforting as that was all he’d been surrounded by for the last 4 weeks. His pain subsided and he felt stiff. He tried to stand up but found he was too weak and fell in the floor. His godfather picked him up and carefully laid him back on the bed.

“Welcome back, Draco.”

It had taken him an entire month to recover. His body had practically withered away to nothing. That was the summer between his 4th and 5th year, before his father was thrown in Azkaban. It was unheard of for someone his age to have withstood what he did, but his father seemed to expect it and took it in stride. He was never happier to return to school.

Draco came out of his musings to find that they had arrived at the Great Hall. He looked up to see the Gryffindor Trio and their fans headed toward the Hall as well. It didn’t get past him that his fuzziness had cleared some. He really wished he could talk to Snape later but he’d made a vow to keep this a secret. Besides, he didn’t know if he could truly trust him or not. He was aware that Snape had vowed to complete his task if he couldn’t, but he didn’t know how he would take the fact that he might be connected to a mudblood. His entourage discovered the happy band of Gryffindors a few seconds later.

Instinctively, Crabe and Goyle stepped in front of Draco and he felt a sudden pang of sadness. However, he had nothing to be sad about. He wondered briefly if he was feeling Granger’s sadness. She seemed very melancholy, trailing behind with Potter and trying not to look at the Weasel and his new whore. He knew how she felt and if he hadn’t taken that stupid vow, he could tease her mercilessly in front of her friends about it. He pushed the thought away and watched as a fight slowly unraveled between their friends.

Hermione watched as her friends all jumped in front of her, eager to protect her from the Slytherin who had supposedly been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She knew better. They had arrived at the same place at the same time and let their anger rule them. She mulled over that day as she watched her friends trade insults with Malfoy’s gang. The entire duel gave her doubts. She’d always been sure of herself in a duel. She knew that she had enough spells under her belt to give her the advantage, but Malfoy had definitely taken her confidence down a notch.

She’d make sure he never knew it but after being trapped in her mind with him, she knew she had underestimated her enemy. It forced her to open her eyes. She’d always known that Voldemort was a powerful wizard but she was sure that Harry would prevail. After all, he had taken on Malfoy’s father and Voldemort last year. Dolohov had rattled her last year but she accepted it because he had been an older, more experienced Death Eater. Now that she’d had an encounter with one of his newest and most inexperienced minions, she was more terrified than ever.

Hermione knew that Malfoy was stronger than anyone had anticipated and she had this niggling feeling that he was hiding something other than the tasks Voldemort had ordered him to do. She’d seen him cast spells before but she’d never seen him cast them with the power he did that day in the bathroom. It made her wonder where all that power had come from. She knew that she always held her power back, afraid she would overpower her opponent in practice duels, but now she wondered if he had too. It could make for a very dangerous situation. In fact, it already had.

Harry and Ron were now in Crabe and Goyle’s face yelling about them being too stupid to yield a wand. Neville, Ginny, and Lavender were toe to toe with Zabini, Nott, and Parkinson daring them to move. Malfoy was standing back, apparently deep in thought and gazing through the ruckus.

Hermione’s mind went to Lavender. She was sooo angry with her and yet, she couldn’t hold it over her that Ron had chosen Lavender and not her. Here she was, standing up to the worst Slytherins of the bunch and defending her. Yet, she couldn’t help feeling sad and jealous that Ron didn’t see her as dating material. She’d be surprised if he even recognized her as female. All that pondering and the shouting was making her head hurt. She rubbed her temples and looked back at the growing fight.

Malfoy had been silently observing Granger. She seemed sad and yet he could tell that her mind was racing a mile a minute and she wasn’t even remotely paying attention to the brewing fight. The two sides seemed to forget he and Granger were in the same hall, let alone standing right behind them. He wondered if he and Granger were connected at the mind, if he could read her thoughts. That epiphany led him to realize something much more dangerous. What if she could read his?

He shook his head to clear the thought from his mind. He noticed that Granger was rubbing her temple. She must have still had a headache as well and all this yelling wasn’t doing it any better. He knew the easiest way to cure it for both of them was to touch foreheads and mutter another pain relieving charm. However, they couldn’t very well spend all their time attached at the forehead could they? He didn’t even want to be in the same SCHOOL with her, let alone in such an intimate position. But perhaps they could nurse pain-relieving potions until they found a way to break connection. How were they to keep from becoming addicted to them? He shuddered to think that he might have to touch the mudblood every couple of hours to avoid becoming a potion addict, but he couldn’t find a way past the pain. He looked up and caught Granger’s eye and motioned for her to back away slowly and make for the tapestry down the hall.

They both started inching backwards. Neither the Slytherins nor the Gryffindors noticed their friends slink away. Past their peripheral vision, they practically ran behind the tapestry which had a hidden alcove behind it. There in the dark, they huddled close together. Malfoy lit his wand so they could see in the small space.

“Ok, listen up Granger. We don’t have much time but this is what I think is happening. We’ve connected minds somehow and them being separated is what is causing these awful headaches. I don’t know how or why or what to do to fix it but until we can sit down and figure it out, we’re going to have to deal with it.”

“But..” Hermione started.

Draco cut her off. “But nothing Granger. We need to figure this out and I’ll owl you to let you know when we can, but until then, let’s just manage it. Remember the pain relieving spell we did in the hospital wing?”

Hermione nodded her head.

“Right, well, we’ll just have to do that. I assume you don’t want to become a pain potion addict. Hopefully the spell will last a while. If we are in the same vicinity, it doesn’t hurt as bad right?”

“Yes. My head feels much better right now, but, WAIT. No one can see us do this Malfoy.

“I agree. Do you think I want to be seen with you?” Malfoy sneered.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. “It isn’t a bloody picnic for me either Malfoy! Let’s just do this and get the hell out of here.”

“Fine. I know of a longer lasting pain spell. It’ll look strange if we’re constantly knocking back pain potions and meeting in hallways, don’t you think?”

Hermione nodded. Draco lifted a corner of the tapestry to see if their friends were still occupied with their fight. It wouldn’t do for either of them to get caught. A cold chill ran over his body at the thought of what would happen if anyone found out. He turned back around and proceeded to teach her the long lasting pain relief spell. He appreciated the fact that she was a quick study. Suddenly the noise stopped and they both froze. They each peaked out of a corner of the tapestry to see Snape and McGonagall demanding to know what was going on between the mobs of students outside the great hall. The both slunk back in quickly.

“Let’s make this quick, Granger. Remember, foreheads together. You think you can do this?” Malfoy whispered.

“Pft. Let’s just do this Malfoy so we can get the hell away from each other.” Hermione hissed.

They placed their foreheads together and a warm feeling washed over them. Instinct seemed to take over and they couldn’t help but to close their eyes and lean into each other. They recited the spell and the last bit of residual pain melted away in a gentle glow of gold. The euphoric feeling was absolutely addicting. Before they knew it, they were clinging on to each other for dear life. It was as if they couldn’t breathe without holding on to one another. Ghosts of emotions washed over them: fear, confusion, anger, contentment, and even a hint of lust.

They were startled from their connection by some clearing their throat. They leapt from each other as though they had been burned. Wide eyed and breathing hard, their heads whipped toward the tapestry. They heard the distinct sound of Professor Snape talking to no one in particular.

“My, my, WHAT is going to happen when that group finally finds the persons over which the whole fight began?”

Hermione’s breath hitched. Draco tried to keep an impassive face but the slight twitch of his shoulder let Hermione know that he was unnerved as well. Still, their hands slowly crept toward each other in an unconscious gesture. When they discovered this, they snatched their hands apart and plastered themselves to opposite walls.

Once more, Snape’s silky baritone voice permeated the small alcove. “It’s a good thing the halls are clear or someone might suspect something…odd.” Heavy footsteps indicated that he had left.

Draco crept toward the tapestry and looked out. The coast was clear. He was going to have to thank his godfather for this one. Too bad he couldn’t tell him what was really going on. He motioned for Granger to go first. He figured he would hang back for a few minutes. He needed to sort some things out.

Hermione snuck out of the alcove and hastily made her way back toward the hall. She really needed to gather her thoughts before she went in to the Great Hall to face her friends. First on the agenda was to figure out an alibi. That one was easy enough. She’d been feeling off all morning. It would make sense that she detoured to the loo. Second was to sort out what had happened between her and Malfoy. When their foreheads together, it was like coming home. She felt safe and warm. She was appalled.

Hermione came to the stairs outside of the Great Hall and sat down to think quickly about what else she had felt. It had weighed heavily on her mind in the hospital wing, but today confirmed it. Malfoy was attractive. His pale blond hair and clear silver eyes haunted her. Today when he had held her close, she had felt his body. Quiddich had obviously hardened it and she most definitely reacted to it. His calloused fingers wrapped around her waist had quickened her pulse. She couldn’t help but throw her hands around his neck. She could admit he was attractive. What she couldn’t handle was the fact that SHE was attracted TO him, the enemy. The man was slated to kill her beloved Headmaster.

“What am I going to do?” she whispered.

“May I make a suggestion?” drawled Snape from behind her. Hermione whipped around, her face draining of all color when she saw her old Potions master and current DADA teacher towering over her.

“P-p-professor Sn-sn-nape!” Hermione hated stuttering but she was quite terrified that Snape would figure out her secret. She wasn’t sure which side he was on but she knew that she personally didn’t trust him completely. He’d been horrible to Harry when teaching him occlumency last year. She’d ended up taking over his teaching and learned both occlumency and legilimency that summer. Now she was practically kicking herself for that fact. She never dreamed it would get her into such trouble.

Snape merely gazed at her. He was intrigued to see the cogs turning in her mind. He hated her swotty know-it-all attitude but he had to admit that she was exceptionally bright. He wondered how he could have missed her being bound. She showed all the telltale signs: the unusual glow from her wand when a spell was cast, the ease of which she cast new spells, and the magical aura when she walked by that one could almost feel. He wondered how he had missed it but he supposed that having her for potions didn’t give him the advantage of seeing her cast many spells.

“I suggest you go to the Great Hall and eat. You wouldn’t want to come to your first duel in my class feeling weak from lack of nutrition, would you?”

“N-n-no sir. Duel, sir?”

“Why yes. I find it fitting that you should prove how much of your theoretical lessons you’ve absorbed. After all, you’ve had most of the week to study them. I expect your papers on my desk after breakfast!” Snape stared hard into her eyes and she immediately put up all her mental blocks in case he tried to invade her mind. Then, with a blink and a hint of a smirk, he turned around and stalked out of the hall, his robes billowing behind him.

Hermione was a bit relieved that he didn’t pry but she was terrified of another duel. Pale faced and shaking, she sprinted toward the doors of the Great Hall. Just as she reached them, she ran into something hard and she tumbled to the floor.

“Umph! Watch where you’re going!” Draco shouted. Getting his bearing, he noticed that it was Granger who had plowed into him. He thought she was already in the Great Hall. Suddenly the doors swung open and Pansy peered down at them.

“Dracy!” She screeched. “Where were you? We were so worried! What are you doing on the floor with that filthy mudblood?” Her eyes narrowed at noticing Hermione on the floor. She looked like she was about to hex her and Draco did some fast talking.

“Stupid girl plowed right over me. Help me off the floor Pans.” Pansy reached out and Draco purposefully pulled her off balance as he got up. He didn’t care for a repeat of the hex she threw at the hospital. He wasn’t sure if the hex would affect him now or not but he didn’t want to find out. How could he explain something like that?

Hermione took in the fact that Malfoy had pulled Pansy off balance and ran with it. She quickly gathered all her things and charged straight for the Gryffindor table. She plopped down beside Ginny and discovered that all eyes were on her.

“Where were you Mione?” Harry asked. “We were all caught by Snape and McGonagall yelling in the hall but you disappeared. We all have detention with Filch tonight, by the way.”

Hermione grimaced. She hated that her friends were being punished for sticking up for her. “I’m so sorry Harry. I woke up with a horrid headache this morning and although Madam Pomfrey gave me a headache potion, I still felt a bit nauseous. I went to the loo and splashed some water on my face to help me feel better. I can’t believe you got detention!”

Harry looked toward Ginny, who was nodding when Hermione reached the part about going to Madam Pomfrey. When Hermione was done speaking, Ginny finished for her.

“She’s right Harry. She looked positively awful this morning and I helped her to the hospital wing. Hermione, are you sure you’re okay? You still look a bit pale. Was that Malfoy you ran into outside?”

Hermione ducked her head. “Yes I’m fine. Snape stopped me in the hall and told me I’d be dueling in DADA Monday. I was rushing in here to at least grab a bit of toast and I suppose I wasn’t watching where I was going. I plowed right into him. Then that awful Parkinson thought I was accosting Malfoy or some such nonsense and while she was helping him off the floor I grabbed my stuff and ran. I’m not sure I’m ready for ano- a duel just yet.” She almost slipped and said another duel but caught herself. She hoped no one noticed her little stutter.

It was apparent they didn’t. Harry reached over and gave her a friendly hug while Ginny patted her hand. Neville looked almost embarrassed as he slightly inclined his head in silent acknowledgement and Ron nodded to her while Lavender was hanging on him looking at her. She felt the familiar ache in her heart again as she watched the two lovebirds groping each other. She did still love him so much and it hurt to see them together but she was determined not to show it.

Instead, she put on what she hoped was an impassive face and started to nibble on some toast and pumpkin juice. She wasn’t very hungry and although the pain spell her and Malfoy had enacted was definitely doing its job, she still felt a little nauseous. She knew that watching Ron with Lavender was making her nauseous but she didn’t think it should be that bad.

Draco was trying hard not to throw up. Pansy had been all over him since he had seated himself at the table. He had tried as politely as he could to shrug her off using every excuse from he was tired to he had a headache to he was too worried about his tasks to be bothered with her advances. She still didn’t take the hint. It was like she had a permanent sticking charm.

Briefly he glanced up to see Potter hug Granger and watched as she cringed slightly when that Brown slag laid herself over the Weasel. He wasn’t sure what he felt. It was almost bordering on jealousy but then a bout of almost overpowering nausea hit him. He knew then that they were in big trouble. They could feel each other’s feelings. He knew the Weasels antics were making her jealous and nauseous. Coupled with his current feelings, it was amazing that he hadn’t vomited all over the Great Hall yet.

He decided he needed to get as far away from Granger as possible and see if the symptoms lessened. Hastily, he excused himself, grabbed some toast and pumpkin juice and practically ran out of the Great Hall. The nausea subsided, one reason being because he was finally away from Pansy who couldn’t run as fast as he could. The feelings of jealousy also subsided and he knew then that the further away they were from each other, the less they could feel the other’s feeling. However, his headache was slowly returning. Bugger.

Stuffing the toast in his mouth and washing it down with pumpkin juice, he entered the library. Madam Pince was stacking books in a far end of the library so he was able to slip into the restricted section unnoticed. Although he had a permission slip from Snape, he didn’t want to get caught looking up anything associated to his and Granger’s problem.

Draco stayed in the library up until lunch, pouring over everything he could possibly find on mind bonding. The problem was that there was very little information on it. He’d have to try to look elsewhere for more info, possibly the Manor even though he cringed at the thought. All he found out so far was that mind bonds generally happened between magical creatures such as Veela, eternal magical soul mates, and in times of great peril when two must combine to survive. The second reason made him snort. There was no way he and Granger were eternal soul mates. Generally the bound couple would experience feelings of loss or anxiety when separated from their partner, but nothing explained the pain that was slowly creeping into his head.

He decided that if he were going to find anything significant, he would once again have to work with Granger. Her research skills were legendary. Perhaps he could request a quick visit home to retrieve some books from his mother under the pretense of them being rare. He did NOT want to risk the Dark Lord finding out and he couldn’t bear the thought of his mother getting caught trying to help him. If anyone discovered the connection he might have with a mudblood, the lives of his entire family were over. He decided to ask Snape when he turned his homework in. Hopefully he could convince him. Feeling hungry and realizing that he in fact hadn’t turned his homework in, he packed his things and stalked out of the library.

He hurried as fast as he could down to the DADA classroom. He was overjoyed that his headache was subsiding but it made him angry to think that the reason for it was that Granger was closer. Hopefully, she wasn’t in his godfather’s classroom. He skidded to a stop at the door to the classroom just in time to see Snape stalking toward the door. Striding over quickly, he asked for a minute of his professor’s time.

“Professor, a word please?”

“Fine Mr. Malfoy, but only a moment. I have papers to grade.”

“Yes, of course sir.”

The two stepped into the classroom.

“Sir, I was wondering if you could grant me a short leave tonight to go to the manor. There are some…reference books that I desperately need to get my hands on and I can only find them in the Manor library.”

Snape tried prying into Draco’s mind to find an ulterior motive but found the boy too hard to penetrate. He was an exceptional occlumens. Finally, deciding it more than likely involved his tasks for the Dark Lord, he relented.

“Fine Mr. Malfoy. I’ll open a floo connection tonight after dinner for one hour, and one hour only. I’ll owl your mother for a definite time. Grab what you need and come back as quickly as possible. We wouldn’t want you to find a surprise on your visit, would we?”

Draco knew exactly what Snape was talking about. The Dark Lord frequented the Manor and it wouldn’t do to be caught by him. He’d have to run in, grab anything he could find, and get out. His mother would be risking her very life because she was supposed to let Him know of any contact that happened with Draco. Draco took a deep breath and let it out.

“Thank you Professor. You don’t know how helpful that would be.”

Snape gave a diminutive nod and Draco turned to walk out of the classroom, leaving his homework on the desk as he strode by. Then he rushed by all the other classes and dropped the rest of his homework off before returning to the Great Hall for lunch. He was starving, having only a bit of toast and pumpkin juice to tide him over. His headache was steadily lessening and he knew what that meant. Granger was even closer.

Hermione was busily eating as fast as she could without choking. She’d made sure her friends weren’t in the Great Hall before she sat down to eat. They’d insisted on following her to all of her classes to turn in her homework. She was finally able to ditch them when they decided to play a game of quiditch. She had slipped off without anyone noticing. Lavender was the only one in the stands and her eyes were solely glued on Ron.

She tried not to think about Ron but it was like a festering wound. Every time she would finally start to get her mind off of things, there the two would be, snogging the life out of each other. It was nauseating and heart wrenching at the same time. No matter how much Ron acted like a huge git, she was still in love with him. During her musings, she noticed that her headache was getting better. Oh no, she thought. Malfoy was coming. Quickly, she dashed from the Hall, only to bump into Malfoy at the entrance doors.

“Damn it, can you go a few hours without running into me you stupid girl!” Draco shouted. In truth, he was happy he had found her. He needed to schedule a time for them to search the stacks together. For all her muddy faults, Granger was brilliant in the library. Under the pretense of picking up his things, he muttered under his breath. “Meet me in the restricted section in half an hour if you can. I have something to show you.”

Hermione looked up, blinked once slowly, and gave an imperceptible nod. Draco slightly bowed his head. The two noticed that everyone in the Great Hall was staring at them. In a bout of quick thinking, Hermione spouted off.

“Malfoy, you don’t own the school! Next time, you can bloody well get out of my way!” Then she stalked off and ran for the library, hoping she could avoid her friends for the next half hour.

Half an hour later, Draco strode into the library, pretending to carelessly glance around for other students, covertly looking for Granger. He saw a hint of her busy brown hair in the restricted section. Noticing Madam Pince was nowhere about, he quickly ducked past the rope and into the stacks. He grabbed the book he had been reading earlier and gave it to Granger wordlessly. She opened the book and started thumbing through it idly. After a few minutes, he started getting antsy and turned the page to where he was earlier.

Letting off an exasperated sigh, she started to read:

Mind connections are a very rare occurrence. The most well-known of these connections happens between Veelas. Being magical creatures, Veela bond mind, body and soul although the minds connect emotionally rather than physically. For more on Veela, please see pg. 3244. Connections can also occur between eternal soul mates. Although in most circumstances, the soul mates prefer not to bond their minds as it can be quite overwhelming. The last kind of mind connection happens between those who have been in grave peril and must bond to survive. There are only a handful of these cases, as most occur with accidental and ancient magic.

The rest of the page was missing, as if someone had torn it out in a hurry.

“Well, that was… less than informative,” Hermione grumbled.

“It’s still a start,” Draco interjected. “We know we aren’t Veela. We definitely aren’t soul mates.” At this point, Hermione snorted. With a twitch of his lips, Draco continued. “We weren’t in grave peril either. Well, from anyone else.”

Hermione caught the twinkle of amusement in Malfoy’s eyes and smirked a bit. “I hardly think legilimency is perilous on the mortal plane,” she murmured. “But still, all this tells us is that connections exist and that we don’t have any of the circumstances it takes to create a connection, although accidental and ancient magic could be an interesting theory. We certainly didn’t plan to cast the spell at the same time.”

Draco pondered for a minute at what Granger had said. She had a point. Perhaps they had released some ancient spell accidentally. Accidents were known to happen. However, the fact that it was a complete accident could be an extreme hindrance on their ability to possibly find a way to separate them. Granger was still thumbing through the book but Draco knew there wasn’t much there. It seemed that most of the parts of the book had gone through a vicious censor. He’d have to see if there was a copy in the library at the Manor.

“Ok Granger. I think we should start with each of the connections, but as you can see, that book is pretty much next to useless. I got permission from Professor Snape to go to Malfoy Manor and pick up a few books from the library. I’ll see what I can find.”

“That actually sounds like a great place to start. While you’re gone, I’ll look through here and see if I can find anything else. I’m sure that all the books couldn’t be torn. Madam Pince would go to an early grave if they were.”

Draco chuckled at this. He could practically see the old vulture swooning over her books when she found out they were vandalized. Just then, he noticed a shock of red hair out of the corner of his eye. It was the Weasley girl. It wouldn’t do to be caught but he had hoped they could perform the pain-relieving spell one more time before leaving as the earlier spell had worn off. While he was standing next to Granger his head felt great, but he knew that as soon as he left her presence it would start again.

“Granger,” he whispered harshly while pointing at the Weaslette. “You’re friends have sent out a search party.”

Hermione looked through the shelves in a panic. How could she avoid them now? She knew Ginny had no fear of sneaking into the restricted section. Wide eyed, she looked at Malfoy beseeching him for answers.

“Listen Granger, I don’t know about you but I need another pain spell. Then I’ll disillusion myself and sneak out. I’m sure the Weasel girl will not be surprised to find you back here with your nose in a book.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes in annoyance but slowly nodded. “Yes, my head has been hurting a little. Let’s hurry before we’re spotted. Ginny’s sharp.”

Quickly, they placed their heads together and whispered the spell. Instant warmth enveloped the two as they once again clung to each other involuntarily. Ginny caught the faint glow coming from the back and headed toward it. Reluctantly, Hermione and Draco separated and stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. They could have sworn that their eyes were actually glowing. A creek caused them to spring apart and Draco hastily disillusioned himself as Hermione heard a gasp.

Quickly, she turned around to see Ginny staring at her open mouthed. She felt a breeze as Malfoy quietly slipped past her. Ginny glanced in Malfoy’s direction but couldn’t get a lock on him and turned back to Hermione.

“Mione? What was that?” Ginny’s voice was shaky.

“What was what Gin?” Hermione hoped she sounded calm and nonchalant but inside she was a quaking mass of nerves. They couldn’t get caught.

“You were…glowing! And I swear I saw you hugging someone.”

“Oh that!” Hermione scrambled fast. She wasn’t good at lies on the fly but she hoped what tumbled out of her mouth next would be passable. “I was reading this strange book I found here in the restricted section and the runes started glowing. You must have seen that.”

“Ok. If you say so, but I still say it looked like you were hugging someone.” Ginny looked thoroughly unconvinced.

“Trust me Ginny, if I was to suddenly find someone, you’d be the first to know,” Hermione said, a bit of sadness in her voice. Hermione told Ginny she’d be researching until dinner and the red head mercifully left her to her studies.

Hours later, she noticed that the dull ache in her head was starting to become more pronounced. She’d scoured the entire library and come up with nothing. It was as if all the information she sought after had been suddenly wiped out. Grimacing from the pain, she gathered her things and slowly made her way to the Great Hall for dinner. She hoped she could run into Malfoy again to renew the pain spell, especially if he was going to leave the school for a while. There was no telling how bad her head would hurt if he wasn’t in the same area. Her musings were brought up short when a pair of strong arms grabbed her and drug her into a nearby alcove. A hand covering her mouth stifled her screams.

Draco had seen and more disconcerting, FELT her coming. Not wanting to get caught fraternizing with a mudblood, he’d hid in an out of the way alcove that she had to pass through to get to the Great Hall. She was completely absorbed in her thoughts when he grabbed her but she quickly sprang to life, fighting for all she was worth. He did good to keep his hand clamped over her mouth. It wouldn’t do for anyone to hear her scream.

“Stop fighting, dammit!” he hissed in her ear. “It’s me, Draco.”

She slumped against him and he let go. Suddenly, she turned and belted him in the stomach. “Dammit Malfoy, don’t grab me like that!”

Gasping for air, Draco tried to compose himself. “Let’s just get this over with. My head is really starting to hurt.”

The faint voices caught the attention of Professor Snape as he was strolling down the corridor toward the Great Hall. All those years of spying had attuned his senses to the highest degree. Covertly glancing in either direction, he slipped into the shadows to observe.

As they put their foreheads together, Draco asked, “What are you grabbing your stomach for Granger?”

“It seems that it isn’t only pain from spells that we share Malfoy.”

Stunned at the revelation, Draco held Granger close while he tried to process this new info. “We’re going to have to be really careful Granger. If one of us gets hexed, someone is going to notice the other feeling pain.”

“I know. We are in a world of shite Malfoy. I couldn’t find a damn thing in the Library today. It’s like everything was wiped out. I hope you can find something at home.”

It felt surreal to be discussing something calmly with his enemy. Yet, holding her in his arms with his forehead pressed against hers seemed entirely natural. His body was warring with itself. He could tell hers was as well but the immense relief that flooded his body at the closeness was hard to ignore. He knew they needed to break the bond as quickly as possible. It would put both of them in danger if they continued on this path.

“Granger, I can sense your feelings too. You were nauseous this morning. Not that I blame you, the Weasel would make anyone nauseous.” He smirked when he felt her anger. “I feel your anger too. I can feel your frustration and your heartache and I hate it. We have to break this Granger and I’m going to do my best to find something that will help us.”

Astonished at the honest admittance and floored by the revelation that he could sense her feelings, Hermione was speechless. Curled into Malfoy’s hard warm body, she felt immeasurably calm and peaceful. It went against everything she had ever known. Him talking to her like a person was also another thing that she was definitely not used to. She wondered if this sudden truce were temporary, if when they broke the bond, he’d go back to being an insufferable git on the path to becoming a murderer. She shivered involuntarily at that thought and felt him stiffen.

Clearing her throat, she managed to squeak out. “Alright, do what you can and let me know what I can do to help. Every time Pansy Parkinson is in the same room with you, I feel the need to empty the contents of my stomach and I’ve never even paid attention to the bitch before.”

Draco tried to subdue a chortle. “She does that to the best of people.”

At the sound of thundering footsteps, both were startled to find that they had overstayed their welcome. Dinner was well underway. Sighing, they muttered the pain spell and held it a bit longer, hoping it would last through the night. The familiar golden light enveloped the two and the compulsion to grab each other tighter hit. The sound of Snape snarling at students broke them from their reverie.

“What are you staring at Miss Patil?” Snape hissed in a deadly low tone.

“N-n-nothing Professor. I…I just thought I saw a light in that alcove.”

“Seeing things now Miss Patil? Perhaps a detention would improve your eyesight? Tonight at 8 with Filch sounds about right. 20 Points from Gryffindor for unnecessary staring. Now, get to dinner!”

Pravarti could be heard walking quickly away. It wouldn’t do to run and cause herself to lose more points!

Too frightened to move, Draco and Hermione clung to each other and stood statue still, hoping against hope that no one saw them in the darkened cove.

“If I were you,” drawled Professor Snape as he slowly stalked into the alcove, “I would march my person into the Great Hall and eat before anyone found out about my…indiscretions.” As he practically spat the last word in their faces, they jumped apart and hit their backs on opposite walls. “Then, I expect BOTH of you, in my office, as soon as you’re done eating. Oh, and Miss Granger,” he turned to Hermione who was shaking so bad it looked as if she would collapse at any moment, “leave your lap dogs in the Great Hall, yes?”

“Yes sir,” came her barely whispered response.

“Now GO! Both of you!”

Draco and Hermione practically flew out of the alcove, tripping over each other and running as fast as they could towards the Great Hall. Unfortunately for them, everyone noticed them blindly running, and their subsequent crash into each other at the entranceway to the Great Hall. Laughter erupted all around, except for a group of Slytherins whose eyes were narrowed and a group of Gryffindors who were launching to their feet, ready to fly into action.

“Shite,” Draco murmured under his breath. “We’d better make this good.”

With an almost imperceptible nod from Hermione, Draco launched into a tirade.

“Damn Granger, what are you ABOUT today. This is the third time you’ve run over me! I know I am impossibly good looking, but I can assure you that I am not interested in a swotty little know-it-all Gryffindor!” He stuck his nose in the air and went about straightening himself out as he saw Granger draw her wand. He quickly drew his to match and they began circling.

“You listen up Malfoy and you listen good. I don’t care how much you think of yourself. You are nothing but foul, lithesome, evil little cockroach! I’ve had to take TWO showers today just to get the stench of git off of myself. If you even THINK for a second that I would want ANYTHING to do with you, you’ve got another thing coming. The next time you so much as brush up against me, I’m going to knock you flat on your arse by the tip of my wand.”

The entire hall gasped at Hermione’s fierce words.

“Now you wait just a minute Granger,” Draco spat. “YOU are the one who has run over ME for the THIRD time today. I should hex you into oblivion for even DARING to be NEAR my person. I can assure you that you will be the one whose arse is skidding across the floor if you try that again. Go ahead Granger,” he taunted, “take your best shot. I’d like to see if you have the guts to do it!”

“MR. MALFOY! MISS GRANGER!” The booming voice of Professor Snape carried through the hall. “You will cease this instant! Put your wands away!” Both students quickly tucked their wands back into their robes. “Both of you now have detention with me after dinner! That will be 50 points from EACH of your houses. To your tables!”

They both headed back to their tables while the hall was in complete silence. Both were acutely aware of the fact that every eye in the Great Hall was watching them. It wasn’t every day that Snape took points from his own house.

“Hermione, what happened?” Harry asked her.

“Oh Harry,” Hermione sighed, “I’m such a mess today. I stayed at the library all day to catch up on my studies and realized that I was famished so I ran down here to grab a bite to eat. I was thinking about this one book I was reading and someone grabbed me and dragged me into an alcove. I belted them in the stomach and then ran for it. I didn’t even think about hexing them. The next thing I knew, I ran headlong into Malfoy. Again! It’s like he has a magnet today. I can’t go more than a couple of hours without unintentionally running into him. He’s a lot stouter than he looks.” This she said while absentmindedly rubbing her arm where she fell on it earlier. “And then he said those horrid things and I just… snapped. Now Professor Snape is going to have my head on a platter tonight. I just hope that I don’t have to dissect flobberworms. It takes hours to get the stench off.”

Harry patted her on the back. “It’s okay Hermione. You were scared. We’ll make sure THAT doesn’t happen again. We’ll walk with you for a while. If we use the invisibility cloak, we might be able to catch who it is. And don’t worry about that scene with Malfoy. Even the best of us lose our temper,” he said with a huge grin.

Hermione gave him a weak smile and went back to slowly picking at her food. She didn’t want to refuse their offer to protect her but this would make it that much harder to sneak away. She might have to go to detention after dinner but she was bound and determined to make dinner last as long as possible.

On the other side of the hall, Draco was getting the cold shoulder.

“I saw you two Draco,” Pansy said, reverting back to his real name, which was an improvement in his opinion. “You and that mudblood were coming from the same direction and you were both running like you’d been hexed. What are you two up to?” She narrowed her eyes dangerously as she asked her last question.

Draco took a minute to compose himself and come up with a good answer. The Gryffindorks might be blindly loyal, but Slytherins were taught to be suspicious and look closely at a very early age. They had obviously picked up the fact that they were running down the hall together. He hoped they hadn’t caught their muttered conversation on the floor.

“I’d rather not discuss it here in the Great Hall. Too many ears.” He muttered, hoping to stall them.

Pansy raised her wand and cast a silence spell. No such luck then.

Draco sighed. “Fine. I dragged Granger into an alcove to question her about the night we were attacked. I’ve…had this feeling that I’ve been being watched today. Well, she freaked out and slipped out of my grip.” Glancing up to the head table to see who was there, he continued. “Filch spotted her running from me so I ran. That filthy old squib couldn’t catch me if he wanted to. So, she was running because she lost her precious Gryffindor courage, and I was running so I wouldn’t get caught. Then that little bitch barrels into me for the THIRD time today.”

He could see the calculations in their eyes. Finally, they all nodded their heads.

“We’ll corner Granger and ask her for you,” Crabbe replied with a maniacal glint in his eyes.

“No, they’ll be on alert now. We don’t need any more attention as it is.”

The occupants of the table saw Draco’s jaw clench in anger and frustration. It wouldn’t do to get on the wrong side of his wand when he was so apparently angry.

“All right, mate,” Blaise said. “We’ll keep our ears out and see what we can find out for you.”

“Thanks,” was Draco’s halfhearted reply. After all, Slytherins were much harder to sneak around. This would make things difficult with Granger. He slowly picked at the rest of his food. He knew he’d get in trouble for dragging his feet, but he didn’t think he could take the punishment he was in for just yet. His body had barely healed. Then there was Granger. She wouldn’t be able to hide that much pain.

Soon there were only a few students left in the Great Hall. At the sound of a throat clearing, friends walked both Draco and Hermione down to the DADA classroom. It was a tense trek. Everyone was on edge and glaring daggers at their rival houses. Shaking like a leaf, Hermione knocked on the door.
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